The AK75 keyboard is almost here, and one of the most signature parts of this upcoming masterpiece lies in its handcrafted resin weight. Made with so much love and tenderness, it took us a whopping 3 years to perfect!
It was around the conception of the keyboard that we decided the weight to be the
"piece de resistance" that will carry the spirit of Artkey to your desk.
The weight, while simple in concept, was a lot more problematic than we thought, one wrong step and the whole weight goes to waste.
After sculpting a model, we used it to cast a mold and proceeded to bring the weight slowly to life through resin casting.
To create that shimmering 3D effect you see inside the weight, the inner parts were separated into multiple components, cast, and painted separately before being put together to form the complete weight and encased in a clear layer of resin.
Then again, it is easier said than done. Each individual part must be made to the exact size and stay consistent across all weights with a minimal level of differences.
The clear resin layer was also a headache on its own. The sheer size of the product means a lot of resin needs to be used - generating a lot of heat and bubbles in the layer, while also hastening the curing process, trapping the bubble inside.
So to remove the bubbles, we had to quickly depressurize the weight before the resin could finish curing using a vacuum chamber - a race against time that hinges on our speed and reflex.
Finally, a quirk of making a resin product this size is that pouring resin can generate a lot of heat, which can lead to some bending and warping in the weight when the resin has settled. This is a problem that we carefully followed to ensure that it doesn't happen too often, but it still results in a failure rate of 80%!
Despite all those challenges, we've still perfected the flow and finally created our masterpiece, a mesmerizing piece of resin that we are proud to call our own!
The AK75 marks the next step in Artkey's evolution, with its weight standing as one of the most intricate and ambitious projects we have undertaken. This achievement would not have been possible without your unwavering support.
The AK75 keyboard is almost here, and one of the most signature parts of this upcoming masterpiece lies in its handcrafted resin weight. Made with so much love and tenderness, it took us a whopping 3 years to perfect!
It was around the conception of the keyboard that we decided the weight to be the
"piece de resistance" that will carry the spirit of Artkey to your desk.
The weight, while simple in concept, was a lot more problematic than we thought, one wrong step and the whole weight goes to waste.
After sculpting a model, we used it to cast a mold and proceeded to bring the weight slowly to life through resin casting.
To create that shimmering 3D effect you see inside the weight, the inner parts were separated into multiple components, cast, and painted separately before being put together to form the complete weight and encased in a clear layer of resin.
Then again, it is easier said than done. Each individual part must be made to the exact size and stay consistent across all weights with a minimal level of differences.
The clear resin layer was also a headache on its own. The sheer size of the product means a lot of resin needs to be used - generating a lot of heat and bubbles in the layer, while also hastening the curing process, trapping the bubble inside.
So to remove the bubbles, we had to quickly depressurize the weight before the resin could finish curing using a vacuum chamber - a race against time that hinges on our speed and reflex.
Finally, a quirk of making a resin product this size is that pouring resin can generate a lot of heat, which can lead to some bending and warping in the weight when the resin has settled. This is a problem that we carefully followed to ensure that it doesn't happen too often, but it still results in a failure rate of 80%!
Despite all those challenges, we've still perfected the flow and finally created our masterpiece, a mesmerizing piece of resin that we are proud to call our own!
The AK75 marks the next step in Artkey's evolution, with its weight standing as one of the most intricate and ambitious projects we have undertaken. This achievement would not have been possible without your unwavering support.
